The Backward Conditioning Curve

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Abstract
Conditioned finger withdrawal was attempted with 60 subjects who were divided into 6 groups of 10 each. The conditioning stimulus (CS) was a tone of 1,000 cycles about 55 db above human threshold. The UCS (unconditioned stimulus) was a make-break DC shock. In 3 forward groups, the CS preceded the UCS by 1.5, 1 and 0.5 . sec., respectively. In 2 backward groups the UCS preceded the CS by 0.5 and 0.25 sec. In a 3d group, the CS and UCS were simultaneous. Wolfle''s observations on backward conditioning were in general supported. However, backward conditioning is seen to be different from forward conditioning in that the curve for simultaneous and backward conditioning shows a process of decrement apparently the reverse of forward conditioning, the latency of backward CRs is less than the latency of the forward CRs, the latencies of forward CRs show no progression, and in order to elicit a UCR of constant magnitude it was necessary to use a stronger shock in the backward group. These and other differences all point to the probability that forward and backward conditioning are distinct processes. The indications are that true simultaneous conditioning is more like backward conditioning.
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